2024 Chatham Cup Final

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Olympic Ride Their Luck Again At City's Expense

by Jeremy Ruane

Just as they did in the 2023 National League Grand Final, Wellington Olympic rode their luck in the 2024 Chatham Cup Final at Auckland City's expense on 7 September, prevailing 5-4 on penalties at North Harbour Stadium after the teams had shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw dominated by "The Navy Blues".

Wearing their white change kit - the Wellingtonians won the toss for the home dressing room - City hit the ground running, firing their first shot in anger just 75 seconds into the contest. Kailan Gould and Joe Lee combined on the right, the latter then working a one-two with Michael den Heijer before getting to the by-line and pulling the ball back for den Heijer to let rip on the volley. The ball flashed over the bar.

Wellington responded via a series of corners, with the seventh minute delivery Adam Supyk supplied being headed past the post by Ben Mata. City soon assumed control of the match, employing their trademark passing game to good effect, especially on the quarter hour, when their patient approach play culminated in Ryan de Vries controlling the ball in the penalty area and inviting Gerard Garriga to stride onto it and send a shot flashing past the far post.

Three minutes later, Adam Mitchell strode out of defence and picked out de Vries on the left, from where he delivered a cross with which Angus Kilkolly just failed to connect. Soon after, City had penalty claims turned away after the outstanding Stipe Ukich - later named the winner of the Jack Batty Memorial Trophy as man-of-the-match - sent Justin Gulley for an Echo before delivering a cross which struck a defender's hand at close range.

Scott Basalaj was right behind Lee's twenty-yarder in the 27th minute, to which Wellington responded via Eddie Wilkinson's enterprising run at the Auckland defence, culminating in a sizzling twenty yard drive which grazed the roof of Conor Tracey's net.

Ten minutes before half-time, there were chances at both ends, with de Vries' curled fifteen yard effort narrowly over the angle of post and bar, to which Wellington responded with a counter-attack, at the sharp end of which Luke Tongue's shot was smothered by Tracey, the last act of note in a half which saw City play the better football, but so far without reward.

The second spell took a while to get going, but sparked into life in the 55th minute when Tracey pulled off a fabulous save, flying to his right to tip Jonty Roubos' swerving ten-yarder over the bar following a half-cleared corner.

City responded through Kilkolly, who sent a twenty-five yarder flashing over the bar before Ukich was unable to direct his header on target following a Regont Murati cross. In the 72nd minute, Lee sent a twenty-five yard thunderbolt crashing against the crossbar in response to a Wellington raid in which Supyk and Gianni Bouzoukis combined on the left to present the largely anonymous Hamish Watson with a chance denied him by Tracey's save at his feet.

Thirteen minutes from time, the scoring was opened via an unlikely source, Nathan Lobo inadvertently turning a Bouzoukis cross into his own net, the ball looping up off the fullback and over Tracey at a nigh on impossible angle - 1-0 Olympic, an "oggie" separating the sides.

Auckland knew that time was of the essence, so piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser. There were groans as Mitchell directed a header past the post from a corner, to which Wellington reacted with a sharp raid down the left by Isa Prins, the substitute creating an opening from which fellow replacement Kaelin Nguyen dragged a shot wide of the mark.

Back came City, Mitchell's angled cross being chested down by de Vries for recently introduced substitute Derek Tieku, whose snatched volley whizzed narrowly over the bar. A minute later, a City corner culminated in Supyk heading Garriga's goalbound header over his own crossbar, with the resulting corner prompting manic scenes at both ends of the ground, as the respective fans were put through an emotional wringer by the action unfolding below them.

In an incredible thirty-second spell of play, both teams put the ball in their opponents' net, only for the goals to be ruled out by the offside flag. City were convinced they'd drawn level when Tieku pounced from close range following a goalmouth scramble arising from a corner, and were protesting their disagreement with the decision when

Wellington took a quick free-kick.

Downfield they swept, Prins the ultimate beneficiary of the counter-attack. But his bundled finish was ruled out by referee Luke Gardner and his team, the substitute's eagerness to seal the deal for Wellington seeing him stray offside at the vital moment - 1-1 it remained, and there were still five minutes of stoppage time remaining.

With three of them still to play, City deservedly drew level. Lee stood up a defender on the left before delivering a cross towards the far post, where Ukich rose to direct a thumping downward header beyond Basalaj to level the scores in dramatic fashion, and force extra time.

Wellington had the better of the first half of the additional thirty minutes, squandering three chances to retake the lead. Watson's 93rd minute shot was blocked by Tracey, who looked on twelve minutes later as the burly striker's solo raid culminated in a shot which he fired across the face of goal.

In between times, a three-on-three raid led by Jack-Henry Sinclair saw him take the wrong option as the retreating defender covering Watson's run stumbled and fell at the worst possible moment. Sinclair was committed to picking out Nguyen, however, and he immediately targeted Watson with a low cross. Tracey plunged to parry the ball to safety, allowing Auckland to scramble the sphere clear on this occasion.

The second half of extra time saw "The Navy Blues" in the ascendancy, de Vries heading past the post in the 107th minute, a feat matched eight minutes later by Ukich as he met a measured cross to the far upright.

Sixty seconds later, Ukich was in again, this time directing a twenty-five yard grasscutter narrowly past the post, the ball sizzling across the rain-slicked surface, the heavens having initially opened during the half-time break, with two subsequent showers making life challenging for both sets of players.

Deep in stoppage time at the end of extra time, Watson headed a Gavin Hoy corner past the near post. It was the last touch of the ball in the match - the final 1-1 scoreline meant that, for the second year running, penalties would determine the destiny of the 2024 Chatham Cup Final.

The first nine spot-kicks found the net without incident, Hoy the closest to missing when his shot squirmed under the diving figure of Tracey. Up stepped Tong Zhou for City to convert the tenth spot-kick of the shoot-out and take the showdown to sudden death.

Basalaj tipped his effort over the bar, prompting joyous celebrations from Wellington's fans. But they were swiftly stifled - the 'keeper was adjudged to have moved before the kick was taken, so the process would have to be repeated.

It was, Basalaj again diving to his right to turn Zhou's spot-kick to safety. The only difference this time was the 'keeper didn't move before the kick was taken - 5-4 to Wellington on penalties, a result which maintains their remarkable season-long record of never having lost a game on their travels, and gives coach Paul Ifill back-to-back Cup triumphs with different clubs - a rare feat arising from his having led Christchurch United to Chatham Cup glory in 2023.

The Chatham Cup joins the Charity Cup and the Central Region Premier League trophy in their cabinet for the summer, while the wee matter of the National League trophy will soon go on the line when that competition commences at month-end.

City, meanwhile, have to settle for the Bob Smith Memorial Cup, awarded to the Chatham Cup runners-up. It joins the Northern Premier League title in their trophy cabinet for the next few months, plus, of course, the biggest prize of all, the OFC Champions League crown, and, on this occasion, the honour of being Oceania's representatives at the upsized and revamped FIFA Club World Cup Finals, which take place in the USA next June.

Auckland: Tracey; Murati (Zhou, 80), Mitchell, den Heijer (booked, 90), Lobo (Matanyayire, 90); Lee (Gray, 94), Garriga, Gould (Ilich, 82), de Vries; Ukich, Kilkolly (booked, 90 (Tieku, 86))

Wellington: Basalaj; Gulley, Mata, Supyk (Vincent, 91); Tongue (Hoy, 62), Roubos (booked, 106), Dimairo (booked, 99), Sinclair (Coustrain, 106); Wilkinson (Nguyen, 83), Watson, Bouzoukis (Prins, 73 (booked, 80))

Referee: Luke Gardner

Chatham Cup